- Queen were one of the longest-lasting and most commercially successful bands to emerge from the British heavy rock scene of the early 1970s, but unlike their contemporaries such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, they soon became just as popular with pop fans as fans of hard rock and heavy metal, beginning with "Killer Queen" from their third album "Sheer Heart Attack" in 1974.
Formed in London in 1970 following the demise of the band Smile, Queen originally consisted of vocalist Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor before being joined by bassist John Deacon. The band became popular with audiences via their hit singles, live performances, originality and showmanship, being voted the greatest British band of all time in a national BBC poll. Their Live Aid (1985) performance was voted the best live rock performance of all time in an industry poll. According to the BBC, Queen have sold more than 300 million albums as of 2009.
Queen's first album "Queen" was a commercial flop in 1973, failing to chart and producing no hit single, but their second album "Queen II" produced a top ten hit, "Seven Seas of Rhye". It was with the release of "Sheer Heart Attack" in 1974 and "A Night at the Opera" the following year that the band gained international success. They have released fifteen studio albums, five live albums and numerous compilation albums. Since Mercury's death and Deacon's retirement, May and Taylor have performed infrequently together at special events and programs as members of other ensembles. Between 2004 to 2009 the duo collaborated with Paul Rodgers under the moniker Queen + Paul Rodgers, and between 2011 to 2015 with Adam Lambert under the moniker Queen + Adam Lambert.
- IMDb mini biography by: Marie Christine Taylor
- Queen were in an elevator when they found out "Bohemian Rhapsody" had topped the charts. They all jumped for joy and the elevator stopped. "We thought we would all suffocate in the damned lift," Freddie Mercury said.
- In January 2007, they were announced as the greatest British band of all time in a poll of more than 20,000 BBC Radio 2 listeners, beating The Beatles by 400 votes. Bands were judged on songwriting, lyrics, live performances, originality and showmanship.
- More than 60 artists, journalists and music industry executives chose their performance at Live Aid (1985) to be the the winner of The World's Greatest Gigs (2005).
- In July 2012, Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" was voted the UK's Favourite Number One Single of all-time, beating 1200 other chart-toppers in the 60-year history of the UK charts.
- Queen's last performance as a group with Freddie Mercury was at Knebworth Park, England, on August 9, 1986, with support from Belouis Some, Big Country and Status Quo. It was the final date of their "Magic Tour" of Europe.
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